


The Missing Soulmark

by hopelessly_me



Series: HPC 2020 [6]
Category: Marvel
Genre: M/M, Unsure Clint, Upset Steve, bringing bucky into the group, clint has an idea, happy ending implied, sad bucky, sharing is caring, soulmark, tough guy clint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:21:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22816144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopelessly_me/pseuds/hopelessly_me
Summary: Bucky is trying to put distance between himself and Steve because he no longer has Steve's matching soulmark- but Clint does. But despite trying to find new hiding places in the Tower, Clint finds him and attempts to fix what's been broken.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: HPC 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619281
Comments: 19
Kudos: 154
Collections: MHEA Harlequin Hoopla Prompt Challenge 2020





	The Missing Soulmark

“We need to talk.”

Bucky wasn’t sure how Clint had found him, especially with all the security protocols he had Stark program for him, but Clint managed. Clint  _ always _ managed and it was the most frustrating thing in the world because Bucky didn’t want to be found. That was the point of all the protocols, right? Let alone Bucky was trained to stay hidden and yet Clint had found every single spot he had found within two hours despite JARVIS promising that the AI hadn’t released his location. 

“Fuck off, Barton,” Bucky said as evenly as he could. Clint clearly didn’t find that much of a threat because he was walking closer, stripping off his S.H.I.E.L.D. jacket as he went. “Clint, I swear to God I will-“

“What you are doing is hurting Steve.” 

Bucky stopped talking promptly and stared at Clint. Clint was on the verge of looking angry, a glimmer of something behind his eyes that typically only came out during missions; they were verging on cold and hard, and it was a look Bucky didn’t know how to deal with when it was directed to him. All his instincts told him to prepare for a fight, but this was Clint, someone he didn’t want to get in a fight with.

“What do you want me to do about it?” Bucky asked.

Clint let a puff of air out, a smirk playing out on his face now. Again, Bucky had seen that look and didn’t like it directed to him. It was somewhere between a confident smirk coupled with ‘I know at least a half dozen ways to kill you with my archery glove alone’. “I want you to grow some balls and go talk to the guy,” he said. “I want you to remember that you both have matching marks and that  _ means _ something, at least to Steve it does. I want you- hell, I dunno, Barnes. I just want you to be happy.” He looked deflated by the end, hanging his head in defeat. “I just want you and Steve to be happy. And I don’t know how to fix this for him.”

Bucky watched as all the confidence and resolve Clint had dissolved into something more reserved and unsure, rubbing his wrist. “I told myself to not back down,” he mumbled mostly to himself as if he did something wrong.

“I don’t have the mark anymore,” Bucky said. Clint looked at Bucky, his brows pulled tight like he didn’t understand what he meant. “I don’t have that mark anymore. But you do. He doesn’t need me.” Bucky sank down and sat against the wall.

Bucky and Steve hadn’t known what to do when they were kids, having the matching marks on their left wrists, except to hide it. It wasn’t like guys like them had certain rights back then, they certainly didn’t have protection, so they hid it for as long as they could. They ignored the pull they felt with each other because what were they supposed to do?

Things could be different now though. They wouldn’t have to hide anything, they could just live happily. When Bucky had gotten away from HYDRA, when things started to make sense again, he had thought about Steve; and when he was brought out of cryo in Wakanda, Steve there waiting, he thought maybe this could be their chance. Maybe they could just relax into life for a change.

But that feeling of bliss was snatched away from him the moment he met Clint and saw the soulmark on his wrist, the perfect match to Steve’s. The sense of wholeness turned into dread when Steve awkwardly introduced Clint, one arm around the other blond’s waist, as Clint had that mischievous grin on his face as he held a hand out to Bucky in greeting. Steve had moved on, Steve had met someone to make him whole again, and they looked happy together. Every time Bucky saw them together they brushed against each other, left small pecks on each other’s cheeks, their foreheads, anywhere they could in the sweetest of ways. And Bucky? Bucky no longer had that soulmark, stolen away when he fell from that train and replaced with a cold metal arm. Bucky no longer had Steve, or else he knew he shouldn’t.

“Buck-“

“I don’t need your pity, Clint,” Bucky said bitterly. He groaned when Clint slid down to sit next to him. “Clint, I am being serious.”

“I know. And Steve asked me not to do this,” Clint rambled, “but I thought maybe letting you do this to yourself wasn’t healthy. And a lot of things you’ve done before here weren’t healthy and-“

“Do you do this rambling thing to Steve?” Bucky snapped.

“More than I care to admit,” Clint admitted as his cheeks turned pink. “Look, Bucky, you don’t  _ need _ the mark anymore to know what you are to Steve. It’s not like that magically doesn’t make you any less his.”

“But Steve has you.”

“I can share.” Bucky frowned and looked over. Clint looked soft and sincere, playing with one of his chest plate straps as if it were interesting.“I mean, it’s uncommon and all but it can’t be a coincidence right? Us three matching. So I mean- I can share.” Clint looked up and gave Bucky a barely there smile, hesitant and nervous about the reaction he was going to receive. Bucky knew he was likely staring as if Clint had grown an extra head but he couldn’t help it.  _ Is this guy for real? _ Apparently the lack of an answer from Bucky meant to Clint that he was safe because he smiled just a little more, leaned in a little closer. “And, I mean, if it’s the mark that’s got you thrown, I think I have a solution.”

“You think you have a solution,” Bucky said slowly.

“Yep!” That smile was radiant as Clint seemed to relax more around Bucky. “But! It involves you trusting me just a smidge. Maybe put up with me for, I dunno, a half hour?”

The thing was- it was really hard not to go along with Clint’s ideas when he looked that sure of himself and happy. That smile alone probably got Steve in more trouble over the last five years than he had gotten himself in over the course of his life Bucky thought. And while everyone seemed immune to that smile besides Bucky and Steve, Bucky had a feeling it came from years of patience.

“Fine,” Bucky sighed, giving into that boyish charm Clint had.

“That’s the spirit!” Clint cheered, one hand coming down on Bucky’s knee before he got up. “Follow me!”

Bucky was on the couch, staring at the television. He never thought he’d just sit around watching a show about baking and being halfway amused by it but he was. How these people could be so dramatic about their desserts, he had no idea- it had to be the money factor. Bucky would have preferred the news, maybe something from that science network Tony had programmed into Bucky’s television. However, the remote was on the other end of the couch, and he was a bit… stuck at the moment.

“Bucky?” Bucky looked back and looked at a very tired and confused Steve. He frowned as he stepped closer. His eyes flickered down to Bucky’s chest and back up. “I told him not to,” he explained apologetically.

Bucky looked down and he couldn’t help but to smile a little. Clint had started strong- he did what he thought would help Bucky feel comfortable, rambling on about all the things that seemed to fascinate him. And while Bucky wasn’t sure why Clint was going through all the trouble, he wasn’t going to pretend that he didn’t appreciate the gentle way he handled Bucky, the way he seemingly made himself comfortable around a man he barely knew.

They ordered burgers at Bucky’s request, and Clint declared excitedly that he had the perfect show to watch, then proceeded to try to explain the premise to Bucky. All the stress from earlier had melted away, and Clint was just as animated as he always was, explaining who was who. With full stomachs and some level of serenity settling between them, Clint had fallen asleep, slowly sinking until he was halfway into Bucky’s lap, his body twisted in a way Bucky knew was going to ache but he didn’t have the heart to wake the archer up.

“Yeah, well, he was worried about you, punk,” Bucky said, a hand gently running down Clint’s arm. As Bucky moved his arm he saw the white paint against the black plates, wobbly black lines crudely drawn in and he had to close his eyes before he would cry, needing to steady himself for what was going to come next. “We need to talk.”

“Okay- yeah,” Steve said, walking around the couch before he saw Bucky’s arm. “Bucky,” he said softly, reaching out and touching the nearly matching design.

Bucky looked up at Steve’s hope filled eyes and smiled just a little more before he looked back down. “I want in on this. If you are still interested.”

**Author's Note:**

> So major shout out to the user Pherryt (who I absolutely love, check out their work) for listening to me ramble because we both had the same idea on something at about the same time, and laughing at my awkwardness. =) You're the best!


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